tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-293671612014-10-14T11:29:32.187-04:00LumpenprofessoriatScattered speculations and gathered snark from a tenured proleLumpenProfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11424425909102486647noreply@blogger.comBlogger391125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29367161.post-16631586990598866992014-05-01T11:07:00.002-04:002014-05-01T11:08:50.061-04:00Happy May Day!<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/mjUNY0433Do" width="420"></iframe>LumpenProfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11424425909102486647noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29367161.post-78131012683930849022014-03-25T18:07:00.002-04:002014-03-26T19:18:16.853-04:00Very Encouraging<div class="tr_bq"><a href="http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2014/03/25/union-event-focuses-adjuncts-role-changing-their-own-working-conditions">via</a>:</div><blockquote>WASHINGTON – Hoping to reach an estimated 1 million adjunct professors nationwide, Service Employees International Union on Monday officially launched its new <a href="http://adjunctaction.org/">Adjunct Action Network website</a>. The union marked the occasion with a “national town hall” event for adjuncts at Georgetown University here. ...&nbsp;</blockquote><blockquote>Mary Kay Henry, president of SEIU, called the website a “new way to organize in a changing world,” and to eschew some of the traditional problems adjuncts have had with organizing, such as lack of office space and a kind of commuter status. By connecting with adjuncts on their campuses and in other states through the new online forum, she said, there’s potential for adjuncts to “light up the entire country.”&nbsp;</blockquote><blockquote>Of the Adjunct Action organizing campaign itself, Henry said it reflects at once the brokenness of “America's promise” – that is, that education is one’s path to a better life – and the “inability” of adjuncts to accept that brokenness.&nbsp;</blockquote><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-UpMTPa-DpJY/UzNgJaC9baI/AAAAAAAABMM/zCY6vj7O5iM/s1600/maxresdefault.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-UpMTPa-DpJY/UzNgJaC9baI/AAAAAAAABMM/zCY6vj7O5iM/s1600/maxresdefault.jpg" height="250" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br />LumpenProfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11424425909102486647noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29367161.post-19124819476934693232014-03-14T19:46:00.000-04:002014-03-14T19:49:11.941-04:00#McConnellingThe best I found of this wonderful meme, followed by my own more modest contribution.<br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/mWQKWv772Hw" width="560"></iframe> <br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/JpkedrhzUKc" width="560"></iframe>LumpenProfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11424425909102486647noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29367161.post-5001583652715463032014-03-13T13:46:00.000-04:002014-03-13T15:02:25.053-04:00The Guns of Academe<div>Why does academia draw such fire? Last week it was&nbsp;<a href="http://lumpenprofessoriat.blogspot.com/2014/03/dont-shoot.html">arming students</a>. This week it has skipped straight to <a href="http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/austin-ruse-says-left-wing-university-professors-should-all-be-taken-out-and-shot">shooting faculty</a>.&nbsp;</div><blockquote class="tr_bq">While filling in today for American Family Radio host Sandy Rios, Austin Ruse commented on the media frenzy surrounding a Duke University freshman who announced that she is a porn actress.&nbsp;</blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">Ruse, who leads the ultraconservative Catholic Family &amp; Human Rights Institute (C-Fam), promptly blamed the college’s women’s studies department and said that “the hard left, human-hating people that run modern universities” should “all be taken out and shot.”</blockquote><div>I greatly admire the <a href="http://www.xojane.com/sex/belle-knox-duke-university-freshman-porn-star">Duke student</a> who provoked this tirade. First, she is a first year Women's Studies major. That alone is testament to her courage and perspicacity. It usually takes students a few years to find Women's Studies courses and decide it would be a good major for them.<br /><br />Second, she is handling a media assault on her personal life and sexuality that few 18 year olds have ever had to face, and she's doing it with powerful eloquence.<br /><br />As one of the many faculty at whom this radio death threat is aimed, I find some comfort in the fact that our students are so clearly worth the risk.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Q7jFV6TJJAc/UyIAtQIv3FI/AAAAAAAABLg/8RAzjOClFSQ/s1600/161296_1_600.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Q7jFV6TJJAc/UyIAtQIv3FI/AAAAAAAABLg/8RAzjOClFSQ/s1600/161296_1_600.jpeg" height="284" width="320" /></a></div><br /></div>LumpenProfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11424425909102486647noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29367161.post-26973196080053135152014-03-09T18:41:00.000-04:002014-03-13T18:57:03.042-04:00True RhapsodyMy contribution to True Detective Fan culture.<br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/rQGDjKhRFcU" width="560"></iframe>LumpenProfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11424425909102486647noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29367161.post-4391651390539398432014-03-06T10:14:00.000-05:002014-03-06T10:14:32.884-05:00RigorI've been surrounded by discussions of rigor&nbsp;lately. In academia, rigor seems always to go hand in hand with quality. Degree programs, departments, courses, and assignments which are deemed more "rigorous" are also seen as better. Aside from an often glaring lack of rigor in the definition of "rigor" itself, I suspect that using rigor as a proxy for quality is often misguided.<br /><br />A post from <a href="http://suburbdad.blogspot.com/2013/11/rigor-control-and-self-control-httpwww.html">Dean Dad</a>&nbsp;raises many of these issues. He writes,<br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">Which is more rigorous: a program with all required and prescribed classes, or a program with a host of electives?&nbsp;</blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">The correct answer is that the question doesn’t make sense. &nbsp;It’s like asking whether red cars are faster than blue cars. &nbsp;Academic rigor and freedom of choice are unrelated. &nbsp;One can choose very easy classes, very difficult classes, or a mix. &nbsp;A program can require very easy classes, very hard classes, or a mix. &nbsp;And that’s before getting into non-objective definitions of rigor.&nbsp;</blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">That should be common sense. &nbsp;But nearly every year I find myself arguing with people who believe that rigor is about control. &nbsp;It’s frustrating, because the underlying assumptions -- and therefore definitions -- are different, so we wind up talking past each other.</blockquote>The idea of a longer required sequence of courses, a longer list of required readings, a longer required essay, etc. strikes many academics as obviously more rigorous and, therefore, better. I have failed many times in discussions with colleagues to shift them from this way of thinking. Quality and quantity are rarely so easily linked.<br /><br />The real effect of these sorts of mechanical methods of increasing rigor may simply be to make the work load less possible and/or less palatable for many students. Students who are struggling academically, students with less natural talent for reading and writing, students who have to spend more time working for a wage, or students with other compelling intellectual interests, all may fail when rigor is increased in this way. This looks like what has been achieved is making your program/class/assignment more selective since fewer successfully complete it. True enough. But finding the breaking point beyond which only the most academically gifted and well supported students can succeed is very different from fostering excellence in education. In fact, it may be a sign of just the opposite. If the only students who succeed are the most talented ones, that's not very compelling evidence for the quality of our instruction. If one gave voice lessons, but the only students who passed your course were already Grammy winners, it's not clear you're doing much good for your students. They would all sing wonderfully no matter what you were teaching. That we can teach things to wonderful students does not really say much about our teaching skills.<br /><br />Instead, the goal of rigor starts to feel a bit like a form of academic hazing. We add more required readings, more and longer writing assignments, more and more difficult exams, and the result of this increased work load is called "rigor." We weed out the students unable or unwilling to suffer enough. Making something difficult and making something good are different goals. Strangely enough, making something difficult is easy, and we tend to do that well in academia. Making something good is much harder, and creating an environment where learning is facilitated is much more difficult than creating an environment where learning is hard. A fallacy of composition no doubt lurks somewhere behind many of our discussions of academic rigor.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0cdTZEv77ec/UxiHDNdM92I/AAAAAAAABLQ/8_2kKEe-xLU/s1600/Rigous.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0cdTZEv77ec/UxiHDNdM92I/AAAAAAAABLQ/8_2kKEe-xLU/s1600/Rigous.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br />LumpenProfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11424425909102486647noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29367161.post-46258222470183425272014-03-01T08:23:00.000-05:002014-03-01T08:23:33.421-05:00Don't ShootA few years back, I wrote here about&nbsp;<a href="http://lumpenprofessoriat.blogspot.com/2008/05/guns-teaching-and-academe.html">guns on campus</a>. This terrible policy keeps coming back to haunt us. Here's a link to a more <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/28/opinion/when-may-i-shoot-a-student.html">eloquent piece</a>&nbsp;on the topic:&nbsp;<blockquote class="tr_bq">In light of the bill permitting guns on our state’s college and university campuses, which is likely to be approved by the state House of Representatives in the coming days, I have a matter of practical concern that I hope you can help with: When may I shoot a student?</blockquote><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-aQgI0JsUF_k/UxHe973108I/AAAAAAAABLA/2E_L-SWR3-U/s1600/pickford-(guns).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-aQgI0JsUF_k/UxHe973108I/AAAAAAAABLA/2E_L-SWR3-U/s1600/pickford-(guns).jpg" height="261" width="320" /></a></div>LumpenProfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11424425909102486647noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29367161.post-83850846195804867612014-02-18T04:44:00.000-05:002014-02-18T11:30:46.883-05:00New MediaHere's something&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/555uhz">new</a>. Some mad genius is currently at work tweeting&nbsp;<i>Top Gun,</i> in its entirety, frame by frame, in all of its homoerotic glory.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-s9XZlI9MLUw/UwOKLWPGXLI/AAAAAAAABKw/4xEAcLprn8Q/s1600/Bgw6A0UIgAEQEmi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-s9XZlI9MLUw/UwOKLWPGXLI/AAAAAAAABKw/4xEAcLprn8Q/s1600/Bgw6A0UIgAEQEmi.jpg" height="166" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Every half hour, another still appears on the twitter feed of 555 µHz. It is up to the bar scene right now.&nbsp;</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gevbDmhlfVU/UwMl1SXszvI/AAAAAAAABKI/DDo1iNm1qJM/s1600/BgvgwDhIMAA61ZC.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gevbDmhlfVU/UwMl1SXszvI/AAAAAAAABKI/DDo1iNm1qJM/s1600/BgvgwDhIMAA61ZC.jpg" height="165" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This is one of the strangest and most wonderful re-purposing of a film I have seen in a very long time. It is a super slow-motion screening. It is non-performance art.</div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-32oGbk9RvJ0/UwMm7JsjrnI/AAAAAAAABKQ/GZ4oS3RX5sM/s1600/Bgu-alWIQAASoOD.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-32oGbk9RvJ0/UwMm7JsjrnI/AAAAAAAABKQ/GZ4oS3RX5sM/s1600/Bgu-alWIQAASoOD.jpg" height="166" width="400" /></a></div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">It includes the subtitles in the screen-captures for those of us who haven't memorized absolutely all of the dialog from the movie.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wDQOZhnIIFI/UwMooNHz4DI/AAAAAAAABKg/vekkQa9yziY/s1600/Bgty4g7IMAAAghu.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wDQOZhnIIFI/UwMooNHz4DI/AAAAAAAABKg/vekkQa9yziY/s1600/Bgty4g7IMAAAghu.jpg" height="166" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Somehow this novel treatment of the too familiar manages to create something of interest out of nothing.&nbsp;</div>LumpenProfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11424425909102486647noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29367161.post-11938338959762108422014-02-14T14:24:00.000-05:002014-02-14T14:24:06.817-05:00Happy Valentine's Day!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2_ozx34Xzpc/Uv5tML_g31I/AAAAAAAABJ4/dSupy_zdt50/s1600/1932411_463395510426568_1029708738_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2_ozx34Xzpc/Uv5tML_g31I/AAAAAAAABJ4/dSupy_zdt50/s1600/1932411_463395510426568_1029708738_n.jpg" /></a></div><br />LumpenProfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11424425909102486647noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29367161.post-26518435665916816242014-02-12T14:12:00.001-05:002014-02-13T12:31:28.144-05:00Transference, Countertransference, and Search CommitteesMy most recent stint serving on a search committee has coincided with teaching a class on Freud. The intersections have been instructive.<br /><br />There is a strange collision that happens as the fantasies and desires of the search committee members are projected onto each of the candidates in turn and find, or fail to find, some reflection or connection.<br /><br />Oddly, it seems to me that the candidate plays the role of therapist to the committee rather than vice versa. The successful candidate is the one who best manages the transference of the committee members as well as their own countertransference onto the department and the imagined job. Wishful thinking runs rampant at every turn. This includes the projection of fears which are no less reliant on fantasy than are the projections of hope.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-OUsocxUxxf0/UvvE7OmaO4I/AAAAAAAABJo/8vnJYLPUVsI/s1600/psychotherapy-1006.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-OUsocxUxxf0/UvvE7OmaO4I/AAAAAAAABJo/8vnJYLPUVsI/s1600/psychotherapy-1006.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>LumpenProfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11424425909102486647noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29367161.post-60951642016265198452014-02-05T17:52:00.000-05:002014-02-05T17:52:07.690-05:00Richard Parker<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Parker_(shipwrecked)">Richard Parker</a> was the name of a character in Poe's novel <i>The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket,</i>&nbsp;published in 1838, who is shipwrecked and cannibalized by other survivors.<br /><br />Richard Parker was the name of an actual cabin boy who was killed and eaten by others in their lifeboat in 1884. This led to the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R_v_Dudley_and_Stephens">R v Dudley and Stephens</a> criminal case that set the precedent that necessity is never a defense for murder.<br /><br />Richard Parker was the name of the Bengal tiger in <i>Life of Pi.</i><br /><br />Richard Parker was also the name of one of the characters in <i>Weekend at Bernie's.</i><br /><br />Evidently, both truth and fiction are very strange. Q.E.D.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1nSmXJ652_Q/UvK_4nG6LNI/AAAAAAAABJY/cI-Bf7X4VjY/s1600/maxresdefault.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1nSmXJ652_Q/UvK_4nG6LNI/AAAAAAAABJY/cI-Bf7X4VjY/s1600/maxresdefault.jpg" height="360" width="640" /></a></div><br />LumpenProfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11424425909102486647noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29367161.post-46477556495345980882014-01-30T16:51:00.000-05:002014-02-09T10:53:29.181-05:00Why I Don't Teach Hegel<a href="http://tuo-ltd.com/projects/hegel/wheel.html">Structure of Hegel's Science of Logic</a><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://tuo-ltd.com/projects/hegel/wheel.html"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-jwZVnzG8cdM/UurIq7IFkWI/AAAAAAAABJI/STtWKDLwQIU/s1600/wheel.png" height="362" width="400" /></a></div><br />LumpenProfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11424425909102486647noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29367161.post-3288210151628597562014-01-23T10:45:00.004-05:002014-01-23T10:45:51.361-05:00Off Again<a href="http://lumpenprofessoriat.blogspot.com/2013/12/prescience.html">Off</a> again. Our administration is now "stepping away" from most of the extraordinarily time-consuming and ill-conceived program prioritization that took center stage last year. There will now be a brief intermission while some top administrative jobs are reshuffled, and then next year we will see if this plan re-emerges or simply disappears.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4O-cS3tqzRc/UrDX02vOYHI/AAAAAAAABHU/I_sFK3-nfbs/s1600/bizarro-world.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4O-cS3tqzRc/UrDX02vOYHI/AAAAAAAABHU/I_sFK3-nfbs/s1600/bizarro-world.jpg" /></a></div>LumpenProfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11424425909102486647noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29367161.post-77768293365962592962014-01-19T11:37:00.000-05:002014-01-19T11:41:45.898-05:00Galt or Gor?<div class="tr_bq">Ayn Rand. Nothing good tends to follow after her name comes up in discussion. Currently, my favorite way to respond to such digressions is by comparing her ideas with those of another work from the same time period, John Norman's<i>&nbsp;Chronicles of Gor.</i> Although this may be somewhat unfair to Norman, I like the idea of characterizing the ideas of John Galt and Rand's other characters as Gorean economics.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Q3fuxdbvFzU/Utv4HLKDroI/AAAAAAAABI0/22kljaT-sio/s1600/01-tarnsman_of_gor.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Q3fuxdbvFzU/Utv4HLKDroI/AAAAAAAABI0/22kljaT-sio/s1600/01-tarnsman_of_gor.jpg" height="320" width="295" /></a></div>&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xE8soVFRUAw/Utv4HOx2WrI/AAAAAAAABIw/Ps09XOVJakc/s1600/as.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xE8soVFRUAw/Utv4HOx2WrI/AAAAAAAABIw/Ps09XOVJakc/s1600/as.jpg" height="320" width="204" /></a><br /><br />Both in content and style, the two authors resonate for me. So, here is a short quiz for you: <i>Galt or Gor?</i><br /><br />See if you can tell if the following quotes come from Ayn Rand's <i>Atlas Shrugged,</i> or John Norman's&nbsp;<i>Chronicles of Gor.</i> The answers are in the first comment below. Feel free to share your score out of 10 in the comments as well. But no cheating. Cheating is for the slavish, weak, and corrupt.<br /><ol><li>"I once betrayed my codes," I said. "It is not my intention to do so again."</li><li>“I swear by my life and my love of it that I will never live for the sake of another man, nor ask another man to live for mine.”&nbsp;</li><li>“Never think of pain or danger or enemies a moment longer than is necessary to fight them.”&nbsp;</li><li>"In denying it we deny our nature. In betraying it we betray no one but ourselves."&nbsp;</li><li>"Invisible chains are those which weigh the most heavily."&nbsp;</li><li>“If one's actions are honest, one does not need the predated confidence of others.”&nbsp;</li><li>"Did I feel a physical desire for him? I did. Was I moved by a passion of my body? I was."&nbsp;</li><li>"Hate them for their pride and power they will pity you for your shame and weakness."&nbsp;</li><li>"Do not let the hero in your soul perish in lonely frustration for the life you deserved and have never been able to reach."</li><li>"He will always be attracted to the woman who reflects his deepest vision of himself, the woman whose surrender permits him to experience a sense of self-esteem."</li></ol>LumpenProfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11424425909102486647noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29367161.post-67895074653072492832014-01-12T14:42:00.000-05:002014-01-12T14:42:18.753-05:00Preparing For ClassesAt the beginning of the semester, I can often convince myself that wandering through YouTube videos in search of new things to show in class is a useful way to spend my time. Below are two videos I unearthed in this quest. The first is short compilation of Sigmund Freud's home movies including clips of Herr Doktor playing with a baby and a dog. The second is a film of André Breton's apartment and art collection. I find them both charming, so I believe I will inflict them on my students this semester.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/14KJgSq-xfo" width="420"></iframe></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/YH4juQ6txDc" width="420"></iframe></div>LumpenProfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11424425909102486647noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29367161.post-88584556553207871022014-01-06T10:19:00.000-05:002014-01-06T10:19:12.913-05:00Dubstep TheoryHere is a disturbing artifact, not so far removed from the&nbsp;<a href="http://lumpenprofessoriat.blogspot.com/2013/12/paulo-feire-death-metal.html">Freire Death Metal</a>&nbsp;below. Dubstep theory may be the next leap forward: the sublation of philosophy and a danceable beat.<br /><br /><iframe frameborder="no" height="166" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/108862260&amp;color=ff6600&amp;auto_play=false&amp;show_artwork=false" width="100%"></iframe><br /><br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">Similarly when it is said: "the real is the universal", the real, qua subject, passes away in its predicate. The universal is not only meant to have the significance of a predicate, as if the proposition stated that the real is universal: the universal is meant to express the essential nature of the real. Thinking therefore loses that fixed objective basis which it had in the subject, just as much as in the predicate it is thrown back on the subject, and therein returns not into itself but into the subject underlying the content. – from the <a href="http://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/hegel/works/ph/phprefac.htm">Preface</a> of Hegel's&nbsp;<i>Phenomenology of Mind.</i></blockquote>LumpenProfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11424425909102486647noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29367161.post-42018593659747525522014-01-03T09:56:00.000-05:002014-01-03T11:01:45.643-05:00Academic KindnessA <a href="http://academickindness.tumblr.com/">small blog</a>, but I approve.LumpenProfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11424425909102486647noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29367161.post-91463716346345772312013-12-30T18:11:00.001-05:002014-01-12T14:51:26.234-05:00ResolutionsBelow is a list of resolutions for the new year penned by Woody Guthrie himself. It makes the rounds online this time of year. I like his list. If I manage to accomplish a handful of these this coming year, it will be a better year. 1, 2, 6, 13, 14, 17, 18, 19, 20, 32, 33 would all be good. 8 won't happen, and I'm fine with that. Happy new year everyone.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-G8TGu_x0sKU/UsH7xp4MUrI/AAAAAAAABIE/eVko0dS-kvg/s1600/woody1.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-G8TGu_x0sKU/UsH7xp4MUrI/AAAAAAAABIE/eVko0dS-kvg/s640/woody1.jpeg" height="398" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"></div><ol><li>Work more and better</li><li>Work by a schedule</li><li>wash teeth if any</li><li>shave</li><li>take bath</li><li>eat good – fruit – vegetables – milk</li><li>drink very scant if any</li><li>write a song a day</li><li>wear clean clothes – look good</li><li>Shine shoes</li><li>Change socks</li><li>Change bed clothes often</li><li>Read lots good books</li><li>Listen to radio a lot</li><li>Learn people better</li><li>Keep rancho clean</li><li>Don’t get lonesome</li><li>Stay glad</li><li>Keep hoping machine running</li><li>Dream good</li><li>Bank all extra money</li><li>Save Dough</li><li>Have company but don’t waste time</li><li>Send Mary and kids money</li><li>Play and sing good</li><li>Dance Better</li><li>Hep win war – beat fascism</li><li>Love Mama</li><li>Love Papa</li><li>Love Pete</li><li>Love Everybody</li><li>Make up your mind</li><li>Wake up and Fight</li></ol><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-uFZjmQ1lrYw/UsH73C4D8BI/AAAAAAAABIM/TPS2t44cJu8/s1600/Woody_Guthrie_Kills_Fascists.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-uFZjmQ1lrYw/UsH73C4D8BI/AAAAAAAABIM/TPS2t44cJu8/s640/Woody_Guthrie_Kills_Fascists.jpg" /></a><br /><br />LumpenProfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11424425909102486647noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29367161.post-87938883631020673932013-12-26T17:29:00.000-05:002013-12-26T17:39:46.271-05:00My Adorable Daughters<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HoFRq1cDRco/Uryrocbvs_I/AAAAAAAABHs/A_3yBq63AsI/s1600/tumblr_myc921j7x01rysk0ro1_500.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HoFRq1cDRco/Uryrocbvs_I/AAAAAAAABHs/A_3yBq63AsI/s400/tumblr_myc921j7x01rysk0ro1_500.jpg" width="270" /></a></div><blockquote class="tr_bq"><a href="http://beach-watch.tumblr.com/post/71061249482/done-for-an-english-project-me-eight-years-ago">beach-watch</a>:&nbsp;Done for an English project. Me eight years ago; me now. :)</blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq"><a href="http://gogglesque.tumblr.com/post/71062849738/beach-watch-done-for-an-english-project-me">gogglesque</a>: It gets better. The first image comes from a project her sister did eight years ago for the same teacher. That sister was me:&nbsp;</blockquote><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-L_tPQDcIB0I/Uryro8NAqNI/AAAAAAAABHw/sq49l_aqoPg/s1600/12iobBP.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-L_tPQDcIB0I/Uryro8NAqNI/AAAAAAAABHw/sq49l_aqoPg/s400/12iobBP.jpg" width="266" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">LumpenProf is their photographer/father.</div><br /><br />LumpenProfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11424425909102486647noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29367161.post-54707486246381351212013-12-19T08:23:00.000-05:002013-12-19T08:26:11.967-05:00The Brownies' Book<a href="http://www.library.umass.edu/spcoll/duboisopedia/doku.php?id=about:brownies_book">Via</a>:<br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">Du Bois had long worried that African American children had no place to turn in the mainstream media for stories about members of their race. With most of the children’s literature of the day produced by white authors for white children, Du Bois wanted to offer an alternative: a magazine written by black authors for black children.&nbsp;</blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">In January 1920 the first issue of The Brownies' Book was produced by Du Bois and Dill, publishers, and made available to subscribers at $1.50 a year or 0.15 an issue.</blockquote><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://hiddencause.files.wordpress.com/2011/02/brownies.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://hiddencause.files.wordpress.com/2011/02/brownies.jpg" width="473" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><blockquote class="tr_bq">The Library of Congress' Rare Book and Special Collections Division provides <a href="http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.rbc/ser.01351">online access</a> to all but the last issue of the Brownies' Book. Or one can choose to download the available issues as one large <a href="http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.rbc/serial.01351.1">PDF file</a> (351MB).</blockquote>LumpenProfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11424425909102486647noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29367161.post-59996739360634974982013-12-17T18:03:00.000-05:002013-12-17T18:10:30.980-05:00Prescience<a href="http://lumpenprofessoriat.blogspot.com/2013/11/how-to-waste-decade.html">Now</a> this has happened. The fifth and final step that moved us full circle was only hypothetical last week. Now that the semester is over and faculty are away it's been announced and made official. Decade officially wasted.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4O-cS3tqzRc/UrDX02vOYHI/AAAAAAAABHU/I_sFK3-nfbs/s1600/bizarro-world.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4O-cS3tqzRc/UrDX02vOYHI/AAAAAAAABHU/I_sFK3-nfbs/s1600/bizarro-world.jpg" /></a></div><div><br /></div>LumpenProfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11424425909102486647noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29367161.post-88010201078904615842013-12-10T14:50:00.000-05:002013-12-10T14:50:43.235-05:00Paulo Feire Death Metal<a href="http://lumpenprofessoriat.blogspot.com/2013/12/metal-freiri.html">This</a> now exists. It was created and performed by one of my students as a final project this semester and features lyrics culled from Paulo Freire's <i><a href="http://www2.webster.edu/~corbetre/philosophy/education/freire/freire-2.html">Pedagogy of the Oppressed</a></i> (aka POO).&nbsp;Listen and Die.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">&nbsp; <iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/lo7j_uV6n48" width="420"></iframe></div>LumpenProfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11424425909102486647noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29367161.post-10385506416505848612013-12-09T08:39:00.000-05:002013-12-09T08:39:24.956-05:00Anonymous Blogging and Academic FreedomThe AAUP has updated its report on <a href="http://www.aaup.org/report/academic-freedom-and-electronic-communications-2013">Academic Freedom and Electronic Communications</a>. Below are some salient excerpts:<br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">Academic freedom, free inquiry, and freedom of expression within the academic community may be limited to no greater extent in electronic format than they are in print, save for the most unusual situation where the very nature of the medium itself might warrant unusual restrictions—and even then only to the extent that such differences demand exceptions or variations. Such obvious differences between old and new media as the vastly greater speed of digital communication, and the far wider audiences that electronic messages may reach, would not, for example, warrant any relaxation of the rigorous precepts of academic freedom.&nbsp;</blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">The basic precept in the 1940 Statement of Principles on Academic Freedom and Tenure that 'teachers are entitled to full freedom in research and in the publication of the results' applies with no less force to the use of electronic media for the conduct of research and the dissemination of findings and results than it applies to the use of more traditional media.&nbsp;</blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">a classroom is not simply a physical space, but any location, real or virtual, in which instruction occurs, and that in classrooms of all types the protections of academic freedom and of the faculty's rights to intellectual property in lectures, syllabi, exams, and similar materials are as applicable as they have been in the physical classroom.&nbsp;</blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">The AAUP has upheld the right of faculty members to speak freely about internal university affairs as a fundamental principle of academic freedom that applies as much to electronic communications as it does to written and oral communications. This includes the right of faculty members to communicate with one another about their conditions of employment and to organize on their own behalf.&nbsp;</blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">faculty members cannot be held responsible for always indicating that they are speaking as individuals and not in the name of their institution, especially if doing so will place an undue burden on the faculty member's ability to express views in electronic media. &nbsp;</blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">social media can be used to make extramural utterances, which are protected under principles of academic freedom. Obviously, the literal distinction between “extramural” and “intramural” speech—speech outside or inside the university’s walls—has little meaning in the world of cyberspace. But the fundamental meaning of extramural speech, as a shorthand for speech in the public sphere and not in one’s area of academic expertise, fully applies in the realm of electronic communications, including social media.&nbsp;</blockquote><div>So why am I still blogging anonymously? Suggestions?<br /><br /><table border="0" style="font-family: monospace, Courier; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td nowrap="" style="background-color: black; color: white; font-size: 8px;"><span style="color: white; font-family: monospace, Courier; font-size: xx-small;">...........................................................................=:?:.<br />................................................................................<br />................................................................................<br />................................................................................<br />.................................:??IIII7777I=..................................<br />.............................:+???IIII777777777777?.............................<br />...........................,=+??IIII7777777777777777II..........................<br />..........................:++???IIII7777777777777777IIII+.......................<br 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/>.................:~.=?+=~,......,?II........IIIII:.......,?,....................<br />..................~..,=?????+++=~....................?...::.....................<br />..................=~.,..:+????IIII????++~:,........I...,~:......................<br />...................~,.~,.....,=++?IIIII???????II?I:..,=+,.......................<br />...................~=.:======.........,:~:,,::,.....~+=.........................<br />....................~:,=++++??,......,,...........,++:..........................<br />....................:=.~=+????..?..+??+++==~:....=+=............................<br />.....................~=:=+???......??++++=~:...=+=..............................<br />.....................,=:=++?~...~..??+++=~:.,++=,...............................<br />......................:=~=++......=++++==::++=..................................<br />.......................:~==+......++++=~~++~,...................................<br />........................:~==.....=+===~~=~,.....................................<br />.........................:~~.....===~~~,........................................<br />..........................,:....::::,...........................................<br />................................,...............................................<br />................................................................................<br />................................................................................<br />................................................................................<br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;GlassGiant.com</span></td></tr></tbody></table></div>LumpenProfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11424425909102486647noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29367161.post-24921634631009996062013-12-08T10:11:00.001-05:002013-12-08T10:19:00.375-05:00Weekend Grading AgainIt's Sunday and I'm grading again. Looking back at past posts, I see that I've <a href="http://lumpenprofessoriat.blogspot.com/search/label/grading">been here before</a>.<br /><br />This <a href="http://lumpenprofessoriat.blogspot.com/2010/05/all-grading-and-no-play.html">one</a> and this <a href="http://lumpenprofessoriat.blogspot.com/2007/04/grades-and-dispossessed.html">one</a> stand out for me in particular. I seem to be in much the same place today. Spinning wheels, circle of life, etc.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">&nbsp; <iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/vFfNFsWpNFg" width="420"></iframe></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I will survive.</div>LumpenProfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11424425909102486647noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29367161.post-31094913182097716042013-12-06T18:26:00.001-05:002013-12-06T19:37:07.757-05:00eForum on Contingent FacultyeForum&nbsp;on the Working Conditions of Contingent Faculty in Higher Education<br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">The House Committee on Education and the Workforce Democrats are interested in learning more about the working conditions of the over one million contingent faculty and instructors at U.S. institutions of higher education, including part-time adjunct professors and graduate teaching assistants, and how those working conditions may impact students’ education.</blockquote>Tell Congress <a href="http://democrats.edworkforce.house.gov/eforum">your story</a>.LumpenProfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11424425909102486647noreply@blogger.com0